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Unimatrix Zero (episode)
Seven is drawn into a virtual reality that some Borg drones inhabit during their regeneration cycles – a threat to the Borg Collective that Janeway wants to exploit. (Season Finale) Summary Seven of Nine sees an environment of trees during one of her regeneration cycles. When a man reaches out to her, she wakes up from her regeneration cycle, unsettled. The Borg Queen, increasingly concerned over the "malfunction" that has spread throughout the Collective, summons a Borg drone to ask him what he remembers about Unimatrix Zero. The Queen is attempting to locate the carrier frequency that all of the malfunctioning drones share. When the drone doesn't reply, the Queen severs his connection to the hive mind. The drone says he doesn't remember anything from Unimatrix Zero. Frustrated, the Queen first decides to remove him from her chamber, then reconsiders. She decides to have the drone dismantled and has his cortical array -- his head -- removed for analysis instead. Seven of Nine approaches The Doctor about her dream of Unimatrix Zero. She believes her dream is a malfunction and wants the doctor to repair it. The Doctor informs her that a dream is nothing to worry about. The Doctor believes that her dream is an expansion of her humanity and that the people in her dream may be hidden desires waiting to be released. He gives her a device to measure her rapid eye movement (REM) cycles. On the Bridge, Tom Paris arrives to an angry Captain Janeway. She states that he is late for his duty shift. Tuvok says that by the ship's chronometer he is late by 22 seconds. Tom Paris, confused by everyone's reactions, responds that he will make it up at the end of his shift. Chakotay responds, "Be sure that you do." When Tom looks at B'Elanna Torres, she give him a look of disgust. Confused, Tom walks to the helm console and finds a box. When he picks up the box, Chakotay orders him to open it. Inside the box is a black pip. Everyone then congratulates Tom on being re-instated as a Lieutenant Junior Grade. Captain Janeway says she expects more of the same from him after one year of exemplary performance. Harry Kim, still an Ensign, says that he didn't see a little box on his chair. The console beeps, and Tom asks if they had hidden a cake in the console. Captain Janeway and the Bridge crew receive a distress call at 0930 hours from a colony on an asteroid two light years away. Tuvok cannot pick up any transmission from the colony, just a carrier wave. ''Voyager'' changes course to respond to the distress call. They arrive at 1130 hours, only to discover that the colony has been destroyed by the Borg. When Tuvok finds a Borg vessel departing the area after performing a scan, Janeway orders Voyager to leave the area at Warp 6, making a note in the ship's log. Seven of Nine goes back to her alcove and regenerates, only to have the same "dream." She is approached by Axum who tells her that she isn't dreaming and that she is in Unimatrix Zero. Axum tells Seven--called Annika Hansen in Unimatrix Zero--that she had been in the Unimatrix for sixteen years. Axum explains that only one in one million Borg drones have the mutation that allow them to enter Unimatrix Zero. They only experience their individuality in the Unimatrix and experiences the environment only while regenerating. Once their cycles are complete, they enter the real world, with no knowledge of what had transpired. Annika and Axum meet a child who had just been assimilated and was probably still in a Borg maturation chamber. They take the child to meet with other children in the Unimatrix. Annika begins to remember people from Unimatrix Zero, including Laura, a human woman who was assimilated at Wolf 359. Axum tells Annika that all of Unimatrix Zero needs her help--the Borg Queen is attempting to eliminate the "malfunction" that has been affliciting the collective and detracting from perfection. Annika tells Axum that she will inform Captain Janeway of their request and return later. Seven of Nine assembles the Senior Staff in the Observation Lounge and informs them of Unimatrix Zero's call for help. Several of the Senior Staff think she imagined her experiences as a dream. The Doctor informs them that Seven was not dreaming; he was recording her REM cycles and found that she never reached REM sleep during her time in Unimatrix Zero. Encountering further resistance from the Senior Staff about further engaging the Borg, Seven of Nine quotes Starfleet protocol and states that when they receive a distress call, they respond. Harry Kim agrees. Captain Janeway wishes to get more information before making her decision, and wants to know if she can visit Unimatrix Zero. Tuvok suggests a "bridging of minds" to allow Janeway to share in Seven's thoughts while she is in Unimatrix Zero. The Doctor expresses his objections, but the plan goes forward anyway. Tuvok bridges Seven of Nine and Janeway's minds as Seven enters Unimatrix Zero. They meet with Axum, who describes what the Borg Queen is doing to attempt to destroy Unimatrix Zero. Janeway thinks the idea is a good one; but she thinks that the drones should consider a more, "permanent solution." The Captain wants the drones to retain their individualities outside of Unimatrix Zero and fight back against the collective as a "resistance movement." Axum thinks the idea is ambitious, but unlikely to occur because he believes is is impossible to retain their memories in the real world. Meanwhile, the Borg Queen has used the first drone to locate other drones afflicted with the malfunction. She has also disassembled them and brought their heads for analysis, commenting that disembodiment is the epitome of perfection. Using their cortical arrays, she had found the carrier band and interlink frequency for Unimatrix Zero. She attempts to disrupt the frequency, but cannot because it is using a triaxilating modulation. She then devises a different plan--to send drones to visit Unimatrix Zero and root out the drones one by one and quickly analyze their cortical arrays to find out how to disrupt the interlink frequency. Borg drones arrive in Unimatrix Zero and begin to assimilate the individuals, causing them to revert back to the real world. Once there, the Queen can track which drones have the malfunction. Janeway intervenes when one of the drones decides to assimilate a child. As the drone is destroyed, the Queen catches a glimpse of Janeway. Captain Janeway asks The Doctor and B'Elanna Torres to work on a virus that will allow the drones to retain their memories in the real world. Janeway arrives on the Bridge and asks Chakotay to accompany her into her Ready Room. Once there, Janeway asks for his full support in this action against the Borg. Chakotay agrees, and they begin their work against the Collective. In Main Engineering, the virus is prepared and Captain Janeway decides to infuse the virus into the Central Plexus of a Borg ship, thereby spreading the virus to entire collective. The closest vessel is a class 4 tactical cube that is heavily armed with its Central Plexus sheilded by multiple regenerative force fields. Seven informs Janeway that she would be detected long before she would reach the Plexus. Tuvok cites Starfleet Tactical Directive 36 that states that the Captain cannot place him/herself in a dangerous situation without being accompanied by a security officer. Therefore, he asks to come along. B'Elanna asks to go on the away team as well because she believes that in order for the mission to succeed, an engineer needs to come along. She cites Starfleet Tactical Directive 36A--a directive that does not exist. Janeway orders them to stay onboard Voyager and leaves Main Engineering, followed by Chakotay. He informs Janeway that his support was not unconditional--that if she wanted her plan to go forward, she would have to take Tuvok and B'Elanna with her. Janeway reluctantly agrees. The ship's power becomes affected by an unknown force. Janeway asks for a status report from the Bridge, where Harry Kim says that it is an unknown transwarp signal that is attempting to access Voyager's main computer. The signal opens a comm signal from the Borg Queen. Janeway goes to the Bridge and talks to the Queen. The Queen first offers to give Voyager transwarp technology in exchange for them staying out of things that don't concern them. Janeway says that she has no idea what the Queen is talking about. The Queen angrily informs Janeway that she knows about her plans and again warns Janeway to stay out of things that don't concern her. The Queen then tells Harry Kim that she will see him soon--most likely a reference to Voyager being assimilated. Janeway thinks that the Queen is worried, and continues with her plan. Seven returns to Unimatrix Zero and helps with the fight against the Borg drones. Seven--now Annika--finds Axum and informs him of Janeway's plan. While she is talking, Laura tells them that several Borg drones are approaching. Axum and Annika hide behind a rock. Axum has his arm around her, and Annika says that feeling was familiar. She gives him a kiss and found that feeling to be familiar as well. Annika asks if they were more than friends. Axum tells Annika that they were in a romantic relationship in Unimatrix Zero for six memorable years--only while they were regenerating. Annika, angry that Axum kept that information from her, leaves Unimatrix Zero, informing him to refer to her as Seven of Nine. The Delta Flyer is readied for the mission and Tuvok, B'Elanna Torres, and Captain Janeway are on board. Voyager begins an assault on the tactical cube and takes damage; however, they mange to cause one of the shield generators on the cube to fluctuate. The Delta Flyer moves into position and transports the Away team onto the cube seconds before the Queen targets the Flyer and destroys it. The away team moves toward the Central Plexus while Voyager continues attacking the cube. The cube, after several direct hits to the hull and the warp nacelles, begins to target Voyager's warp core. The away team continues to move toward the Central Plexus, when they are stopped by two drones. The two drones are disabled when they are shot with phaser rifles. More drones arrive--quickly adapting to the away team's weapons. The away team begins to walk away from the drones, but are stopped by two forcefields, trapping them. Borg drones surround and assimlate them--first Tuvok, then B'Elanna, and finally Captain Janeway. The Doctor says that their lifesigns are destabilizing as a result of the assimilation. Chakotay says that things are going according to plan, and then orders Tom to retreat at warp. The episode ends with a view of the away team as drones. Memorable Quotes "Hiding a cake in the console?" : - Tom Paris "Janeway!" : - Borg Queen "I wish you were alive to experience disembodiment. It is the epitome of perfection." : - Borg Queen "They're using a triaxilating modulation!" : - Borg Queen "We'll see you soon, Harry." : - Borg Queen Background Information *Tom Paris is promoted back to Lieutenant junior grade in this episode. *Mark Deakins appears as Axum, fresh off his role as Tournel in Star Trek: Insurrection. *A human woman, Laura, who is seen in Unimatrix Zero was assimilated at the Battle of Wolf 359, however, it is unclear how she managed to survive as the Borg ship from that incident was destroyed. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II") Riley, a former Borg drone featured in the 3rd season episode "Unity", made an identical claim. In (VOY: "Imperfection") one of Seven of Nine's extra personalities is a human female who claims to have been taken by the Borg near the site of the Battle at Wolf 359, meaning that Seven was present at the battle and assimilated several humans before somehow returning to the Delta quadrant. In the movie First Contact Jean-Luc Picard remembered that the Borg Queen was also present at the battle, even being present at his assimalation. The logical conclusion from this may be that when the Borg Queen returned to the Delta Quadrant the cube that attacked Earth rendevoud with another Borg ship. This ship may have taken many of the new Human drones on board, along with the Queen and Seven of Nine before returning to the Delta Quadrant. *The Delta Flyer is destroyed by the Borg in this episode. It was replaced in "Imperfection" by the Delta Flyer II, which was of the same basic design and specifications. *One of the decapitated Borg heads is actually a mold of Brent Spiner's head which was used as Data's head in TNG: "Datalore" and "Time's Arrow, Part I" and "Time's Arrow, Part II." *"Unimatrix Zero, Parts I & II" were included in the 2006 DVD box set ''Star Trek'': Fan Collective - Borg. *The episode ends with Captain Janeway having been assimilated by the Borg. TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I" ended similarly with Captain Jean-Luc Picard having been assimilated as well. Links and References Guest Stars *Susanna Thompson as Borg Queen *Mark Deakins as Axum *Jerome Butler as Korok *Joanna Heimbold as Laura *Ron Ostrow as Four of Twelve *Ryan Sparks as Alien Boy *Tarik Ergin as Ayala (uncredited) *Tony Sears as a Borg Drone References asteroid; bat'leth; Borg cube; class 4 tactical cube; central plexus; colony; cortical array; cortical inhibitor; cortical monitor; cortical node; Cube 461; Cube 1184; Delta Flyer; Grid 326; Grid 649; Grid 982; Hirogen; interlink frequency; Klingon; multi-regenerative security grid; mutant; nanovirus; plasma injector; REM sleep; Starfleet General Orders and Regulations; Tactical Cube 138; transwarp conduit; Trimatrix 942; Unimatrix 525; Unimatrix Zero; Battle of Wolf 359 Category:VOY episodes de:Unimatrix Zero, Teil I nl:Unimatrix Zero, Deel I